Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff Jon E. Lopey
305 Butte Street
Yreka, CA 96097
(530) 841-2900 (Dispatch)
News Release = SHERIFF’S OFFICE PROBES TRAGIC DEATH OF LOCAL KAYAKER
MAY 10, 2019
On Thursday, May 9, 2019 at about 5:30 p.m., Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office
(SCSO) Deputy Jon Erickson responded to a report of a man that fell from a high cliff at the
Box Canyon Trail Head, which leads to a kayak access point along the Sacramento River.
Prior to the deputy’s arrival, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
advised SCSO Dispatch that the man was pronounced dead after a local physician, and later,
Mt. Shasta Fire Department emergency medical services (EMS) first responders initiated a
gallant effort to revive the unconscious man.
As a precautionary measure, SCSO’s Search
and Rescue (SAR) team and its coordinator, Deputy Mike Burns, were alerted to respond to
the scene.
According to witnesses and associates of the man, he was traversing a steep trail
leading to the Sacramento River access point, east of the Box Canyon Dam, carrying a
kayak, when he slipped, slid down the steep trail area, and fell over the edge of a nearby
cliff. A companion and local physician immediately responded to the victim’s location,
which was near the river bank and initiated life-saving aid, including cardo-pulmonary
resuscitation (CPR). Despite a prolonged and heroic attempt to revive the man, his efforts
were ultimately unsuccessful, and the victim succumbed to his injuries and he was
pronounced dead at the scene.
The local man, identified as Mr. Leif Convers Hansen, 61, of the local Mt. Shasta
area. Mr. Hansen was a long-time resident and active and popular member of the local
community.
According to Sheriff Jon Lopey, “On behalf of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office,
I would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to the decedent, his family, and friends in the
aftermath of his tragic death. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Hansen’s
companions and commend them for the extraordinary efforts to rescue and revive him after
his fall. The Mount Shasta Fire Department, CAL FIRE, Dunsmuir-Castella Volunteer Fire
Department, and Mt. Shasta Ambulance first responders arrived at the scene quickly and did
an excellent job in an attempt to save Mr. Hansen. The California Highway Patrol’s (CHP)
Northern Division Helicopter-14 crew responded to the scene and assisted local first
responders by extracting Mr. Hansen’s body from the scene. All of the rescue participants,
law enforcement, fire, and EMS first responders conducted their rescue duties in steep,
rocky, inhospitable terrain under difficult and potentially dangerous circumstances. Anyone
with information about this case that has not already been interviewed by law enforcement
personnel is urged to contact SCSO’s 24-hour Dispatch Center at (530) 841-2900.”
MT. SHASTA MAN DEAD FOLLOWING CLIFF FALL ALONG SACRAMENTO RIVER
The man was trying to bring his kayak down to an access point on the river, according to witnesses.
Posted: May. 10, 2019 1:11 PM
Updated: May. 10, 2019 3:09 PM
Posted By: Jamie Parfitt
Mt. SHASTA, Calif. — A Siskiyou County man is dead after falling from a steep cliff along the Sacramento River on Thursday, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office (SCSO).
